STEM Challenge Ignites Creativity and Collaboration at St Joseph’s Primary, Tweed Heads

Students at St Joseph’s Primary, Tweed Heads, engaged in a hands-on STEM challenge emphasising teamwork, problem-solving, and critical thinking. (Week 9 - 10 Term 2 2024)

Students from Years 3 to 5 at St Joseph’s Primary, Tweed Heads, eagerly participated in a hands-on STEM challenge designed to emphasise teamwork, problem-solving, and critical and creative thinking.

Participants were presented with a compelling scenario: a plane carrying medical supplies had made an emergency landing, and they needed to design a carrier or transport device to attach to a Dash Robot to deliver the supplies to a remote village. 

Students crafted their devices and attached them to their Dash Robots using materials such as paper plates and cups, pipe cleaners, sticky tape, paddle pop sticks, and wooden pegs. They then applied coding skills learned in previous lessons to program their robots to navigate a course. While most groups opted to attach the medical supplies to the top of the robots, one innovative group built a ‘trailer’ to be towed behind their robot.

The challenge was met with excitement and enthusiasm as students collaborated and showcased their final products. The activity served as an excellent introduction to STEM, leaving the students eager for future projects. The main objectives were achieved by emphasising collaboration, critical and creative thinking, and problem-solving.

The feedback from the students was overwhelmingly positive: 

‘Coding was fun and difficult, and I had to learn to keep trying. Even though I didn't solve the task, I cooperated with my team, and we tried our best,’ said Year 5 student Jack.

 ‘It takes teamwork to figure out the problems and code the way to success. I really liked doing this coding and measuring because I am interested in learning about coding and doing things that I don't usually get to do,’ said Year 5 student Christian.

‘You had to be very precise on the directions because one little mistake made the robot go in a different direction. We had to be patient and work together as a team,’ said Year 5 student Poppie.

Looking ahead, St Joseph’s Primary School plans to include STEM-based challenges across all grades and integrate STEM activities into every classroom. The success of this recent challenge has set a strong foundation for a future filled with innovative and collaborative learning experiences.